Gavin and Stacey actor to appear in Boy George biopic
Gay singer Boy George will be the subject of a new BBC biopic, it was announced today.
The drama will document his early life up to his 1980s heyday and cast members will include Mat Horne, best known for comedy Gavin and Stacey and the flop movie Lesbian Vampire Killers.
Horne is to play Culture Club’s drummer Jon Moss and relative unknown Douglas Booth will take the part of Boy George.
Hustle actor Marc Warren has been lined up to play nightclub owner and Visage front-man Steve Strange, while Mark Gatiss, of The League of Gentlemen, will play music impresario Malcolm McLaren.
The drama, titled Worried About The Boy, was written by Hotel Babylon writer Tony Basgallop and directed by Julian Jarrold, who made the 2008 adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.
It will follow the singer’s journey from cloakroom attendant to cultural icon, including his romantic relationships, personal style and how he met his Culture Club bandmates at the infamous Blitz Club.
Following his 1980s success, Boy George, real name George O’Dowd, fell from grace and suffered a well-documented heroin addiction.
He was jailed last last for assaulting and falsely imprisoning a rent boy and was barred by a judge from appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in December following his release on probation.
Ben Stephenson, the controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, said: “Worried About The Boy will be an evocative and visually enticing drama about one of our most iconic British pop stars. With its mix of music, fashion and youth, it rounds off our trio of dramas for BBC Two’s Eighties season perfectly.”
Filming will begin in Manchester this month and the drama is to be broadcast in the spring.
The Eighties season will also include The Royal Wedding, written by Abi Morgan, and an adaptation of Martin Amis’ Money, starring Nick Frost.
